Something may have changed in the process of forumulation of the plastic. My 2003 foot is fine without degradation, in good condition. I put a 2015 one in, we'll see how that goes. With an empty tank, the foot bellows get pushed up about 1/2", but will go down when the tank is full and sags. I'm in process of doing a video on my tank cleaning and assembly.

Screen grabs from the video.







Bellows keeping the assembly lifted.

 

As much joy as I'm getting reading about my fuel pick-up failing at some point....

We aired up the tires and bags, pulled the tail gate and loaded the camper on. Camper/Truck will be seeing more use this year (been 2 years since camper has been on), so we need a few things fixed on it and will be dropping it off at the local RV repair guy's place tomorrow. It has to be parked on the street so I'm really hoping he will pull the Ravelco key out when he's not having to move the rig around. It would suck huge to lose the truck AND Bigfoot camper... :-/

Carry on...

 

Not necessarily. Mark's has been fine.

 

So far mine in my 05 Excursion has been good for over 355k miles and several thousand gallons of diesel, knock on wood/plastic…

 

Very encouraging!!

Have you ever used fuel additives?
If so, what did you use and how much have you used?

 

I like that you asked that Q, Mark - I was wondering similar fuel quality related thoughts! I run Diesel Kleen and usually go high on the concentration - started doing it here and there when ULSD first came out (lubricity concerns) and then there was the occasional post about how running XYZ additive kept the EGR system cleaner, so I run it all the time... A bonus would be not worrying about the fuel pick up

So, water or jelling, or...???

 

Unfortunately we only have questions at this point. My theory is that some additives are not good for the plastic. Right now I am suspecting the alcohol based additives (Diesel 911, etc), but I am ONLY GUESSING! I switch between Stanadyne and Diesel Kleen. I don't think that those additives cause any issues (and might help some if a person gets bad fuel occasionally).

 

I know one time soon after I first got it at 84k miles I ran one bottle of diesel kleen +. Since then only Ford’s PM22-A Cetane Booster (I have not used their anti-gel version) until a couple weeks ago when I tried a bottle of the Archoil Fuel Treatment cleaner thing…6400D.

I’m extremely relatively sort of semi-regular with using the PM-22-A…probably 1/2 to 2/3 of fill ups. Or maybe slightly more…or less.

When I use it regularly I use about 10oz of PM-22-A to 40 gallons of fuel. And based on my observations I consistently get around .5mpg better fuel economy when I use it.

 

So I think that is a good guess! What are the fuel components, at the time of manufacture (ok, years before these were built), were they expecting to have the fuel pick-up see? Water and crud were definitely on their minds... Alcohol... ? Maybe not so much... I'll sleep better tonight

 

I haven't used much over the 19 years. The most a partial bottle of OptiLube.

 

I run diesel kleen very consistently. Mostly the anti-gel with Cetane boost. Mainly due to the ULSD and the cold temps here in south central PA. I believe the anti-gel works, as far as more power from Cetane, or the slick diesel additive to provide extra lubricity in place of sulfur…..who knows. I don’t notice any power gains, or fuel mileage savings, but it makes me feel better. Maybe it’s snake oil, maybe not, lol.

 

I used to use Stanadyne, then switched to Diesel Kleen. Haven't used any oddball stuff. Mine is a 2006 (late '05 build).

Since weather was nasty yesterday, I put the tank back together today. Adding a pic of the modified sender prior to installation and one after of the tools used on the retaining ring. I slightly compressed the mouth of the tube to make it wider and lower profile. Thought about adding a screen, but figure it's just as likely to clog, or perhaps more so than the tube itself. My tank was very clean except for pieces of the broken suction bell.

I replaced rotting hoses at the front and back of the tank. Used Gates Safety Stripe II Fuel Hose (PN 27006, 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD) from O'Reilly Auto. Put Sil-Glyde on the barbs and in the mouths of all hoses. Don't want to fight sticking hoses if I have to do this again someday -- especially the fill pipe hoses. Those were a booger to get off.

Last two pics are of the fill pipe hoses and the fender to frame bracket. Remove that bracket first. Two bolts is all to remove it and much easier access to the fill pipe hoses.

 

Took out my XDP coolant filter today. Had a leaky valve a while back. I fixed that then leaky hoses at the crimps yesterday. The filter system has been on for well over 100K so I figure my system is as clean as it's going to get. It did a great job early on when I first installed it. I cut open my filters finding goop and sand the first few filters. More recently, they have been spotless. When the leaking started I figured it was time to eliminate (reduce) points of failure. Oil cooler is original with almost 230 K on it and running 4-6 on deltas. Can't complain there.

 

Lost my alternator, barely made it home before dark. Was pulling a trailer full of farm implements and light started flashing on interstate. I decided to back road it home and made it the 40 miles. I carefully watched FICM voltage. I think the alternator was charging a little, most of the time held 12.5 on the Scan Gauge. It was a 7 year old DC Power 180 AMP unit.

I have a battery tender on the truck trying to give the AGMs more juice.

 

7 year old DC Power unit? Dammit! Mine is now almost 7 years old…thanks for adding to my worries